


Change in Directions

by Cloudyerd11



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2020-11-23 07:58:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20888756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudyerd11/pseuds/Cloudyerd11
Summary: After a simple mission turns into a run-in with the Asgardian God of Mischief and a four-thousand-year-old rune, the Avengers struggle to recover, especially when things start to become out of place in terms of their powers.So when Layla, a high school photographer with a severe case of reckless spontaneity, finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and gain's one of the Avenger's powers, not only does the situation worsen, but she finds herself in a world of crazy that she never could have imagined.Especially since something feels off and out of place, like a sudden change in directions is coming her way.





	1. Steve

“Are you sure the strange energy is coming from here, Stark?”

“That’s right Cap. According to my scanners, the energy is coming from the basement.”

“Of the old New York Library?” asks Barton through the coms. “That’s the recipe for the beginning of a horror movie for sure.”

“That’s something for you and JARVIS to be the judge of, Hawkeye,” answers Stark, landing beside me. “And besides, we have an Asgardian who tipped us off about the energy in the first place.”

A loud thud rings through the air to my right. I’m not surprised by the sudden landing, but I see Stark slightly jump out of the corner of my eye. I stifle a laugh. 

“Indeed, friend Stark,” says Thor. “My all-senses say it's coming from the old Midgardian building, but I fear it may be Asgardian.”

“Well, that’s why we have you and a hulk to back us up. Banner?”

“Ready on standby.”

“Alright. Let’s get this mission done,” I say. “Hawkeye, you keep watch from the roof while Widow, you keep eyes of the upper levels.”

“You got it, Cap,” answers Widow through the coms. 

“Banner you’re on standby, we’ll let you know if we need you. Thor, you’re with Stark and I. If it is Asgardian, we’ll need your expertise.”

“Of course. Why else would you have called me here if it weren’t for my expertise? And my brute strength of course.”

“All ready Cap,” says Stark. “Area is all clear, scanners came back negative.”

“Let’s get this over with then. In and out.”

Thor enters first, going down a flight of stairs in total darkness. Stark lights up the way with his repulsors, flying down the stairs rather than climbing. I jog down after them. The temperature drops drastically, but I don’t think that’s the reason a shiver ran down my spine.

“I don’t like the feeling of this,” says Stark from next to me.

“Same. Like something is the way it shouldn’t be.”

We turn the corner, spying the entrance to the basement room. Stark and I move to opposite sides of the entryway, Thor standing in the shadows of the corner. We look at each other, nodding to communicate our readiness.

Stark and I turn the corner, shield and repulsors ready. Thor stands behind us, Mjolnir at the ready.

A small stone rests on a small wooden table, propped at an angle. A symbol is carved into its face, barely visible compared to the rest of the stone. But that’s not what grabs our attention.

A man in a green cape stands facing the stone. Despite not being able to see his face, all of us instantly recognize him.

“Loki!” Says Thor. His tone of voice tells me that somehow he had been expecting the unexpected visitor.

The green God of Mischief smiles as we all enter the room. He looks different than the last time we saw him. His face is a little darker, still an unearthly pale. He looks fit, healthier than the skinny and deprived God we encountered a few months earlier. He stood a little taller and more confident. His eyes still remained the same evil colored green as they always had.

“Did Thor just say Loki?” Asks Hawkeye through my coms.

“Affirmative, Hawkeye. Request for backup.”

There’s no answer, but I swear I can feel the ground shaking from large footsteps.

“What are your intentions, brother?”

“Of course, you’re an ignorant fool. You immediately assume I’m up to no good and simply spreading mischief.”

“Well, it's kind of in your job description there, reindeer games.”

Loki’s eyes become darker green as he glares. “Watch your tongue Stark. I may not be up to no good, but I’m not afraid to fit a knife between your armor.”

Stark remains silent next to me, which is strange compared to the fact that he would normally be stating a comeback of some sort.

The room shakes as an angry Hulk jumps down through the ceiling. Both Hawkeye and Widow jump down from Hulk’s back, weapons immediately at the ready. I feel slightly more confident now that we have a Hulk to help us with Loki. I remember watching the security videos in awe as the Hulk threw Loki around the room, putting him in his place.

If he can do it once, he can do it again.

“State your reasons for being here, Loki,” interjects Thor. “Why do you want the Rune?”

“Can’t a man simply desire to see the Rune up close as opposed to simply reading descriptions of it?”

“Answer the question, Loki,” I state, taking a step closer. “You know exactly why we’re asking.”

Loki studies me for a minute. I can see the gears spinning in his mind as he looks me over, trying to find something beyond my understanding. I try as best I can to keep my mind blank, in case the theories of him being able to read minds is true.

“I’m simply here for reasons beyond your basic understanding.”

“Then begone. Rid this place of you and your mischief, brother.”

“Hold on,” says Widow, taking a step forward. “What’s so important about this rune? How did it get here?”

“This ancient rune,” answers Loki. “The  _ Austtond _ was created by powerful Asgardian sorcerers over four thousand years ago. It has the ability to transfer energy from one being to the next, completely changing dynamics while allowing the ones who possess it to remain whole.”

“Alright, neat,” states Hawkeye. He pulls back one of his arrows. “Nothing a simple arrow can’t handle.”

Thor jumps in front of Hawkeye, pushing the point of his arrow to the ground. “Don’t, friend Hawk. You do not understand what this rune can do.”

“Indeed,” continues Loki. “This rune, despite it's great power, is an unstable source of power. It's instability forces it to teleport itself all over the Universe, which is how it ended up here, on your pathetic, Midgardian Planet.”

“So what does this have to do with you being here?” Asks Stark. 

“Because. One small movement will cause it to do irreversible things. And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

I analyze everything Loki just explained. Note to self, one small wrong move and this goes critical. Got it. Simple enough for me.

“Alright. Now we know why it's here and what it does. But you still need to answer a question.” Stark takes a step closer to Loki, who watches him carefully. “Why are you here? Why do you need the stone?”

“Like I said. For reasons beyond your simple understanding.”

To our surprise, Loki turns, walking away from us and the Rune. He doesn’t turn back towards us with knives in his hands. He doesn’t vanish before reappearing behind us. He just walks away. We all still remain at the ready, not even slightly convinced that Loki is just going to walk away.

Loki is almost to the opposite doorway when Stark says something a little too loud.

“Heartless loner.”

_ Damn _ .

The room erupts in green energy as Loki spins around, shooting all of us into the wall behind us and, for some of us, beyond.

Stark and I both look up to see Loki reach towards the Rune. Before I can even finish standing up, Stark is in mid-air, aiming both of his repulsors at the Asgardian, the room filled with echoes from the sounds of his repulsors charging to full volume. 

“Stark!...” I start to shout, but it's too late. Stark fires a repulsor blast at Loki, only for Loki to react first and disappear, the blast hitting the fragile Rune instead.

Time seems to stop as the Rune absorbs the repulsor energy, lighting up the small symbol on the rune. The symbol glows brightly as a blast of bright blue energy fills the room.

I can feel something happening, my skin crawling with the energy from the rune. The room starts to become blurry, clearness pulsing on and off as the light turns from blue to white…

… before turning to a silky black.


	2. Layla

“Layla. What are you doing?” Asks Christy, sitting on her bed and eating handfuls of popcorn at a time.

“Painting an elephant.” I look her straight in the eye as I set my camera into my black and blue padded bag.

“I’m not stupid. My question is why are you loading your camera? You know it's almost eleven-thirty right?”

“You know I always make sure the camera is ready in case something happens right?”

“Why? Something Yearbook worthy could spontaneously happen at one in the morning?”

“Christy, we live in New York. Freaking aliens came out of a portal in the middle of the day. Anything could happen.”

“I just don’t understand why it’s your problem.”

“It’s not my problem. I’m just preparing in case it is.” I set my camera bag down next to me as I sit down on my make-shift, sleeping bag bed. “I’m always prepared. You know this.”

“Whatever,” Christy says. She sets the bowl of popcorn on the floor next to her bed. She rolls over, propping herself on her elbow to look at me. “Other than being ‘photo-ready’ for the apocalypse, are you ready for Coney Island tomorrow?”  
“Absolutely. Are you ready?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve been looking forward to this for the past two weeks. Of course I’m ready for this!” She turns off the lights, rolling over to look at the ceiling and closing her eyes. “Remember, we need to be up early tomorrow if we want to catch the first bus there. No sleeping in later than 5, got it?”

“Cool beans.”

“Goodnight, Lay.”

“Goodnight, Chris.”

I’m so tired, I fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow, my mind emptying of all the events and yearbook meetings I have to worry about this week. The calming darkness starts to take over my mind, all my stress and anxiety drifting away… 

A noise wakes me abruptly. I open my eyes, looking at the clock on my phone, carefully keeping the light from shining on my friend’s face.

_ One thirty. Seriously? What could possibly be going on? _

As quietly as possible I stand up from my sleeping bag, creeping over to the window. I crack the blinds slightly, looking back over my shoulder to make sure my friend Christy is sound asleep. I smile as Christy lets out a large snore right at that moment.

It's dark outside, but I can still see the streets below. I can see the streetlights, the occasional car, the skyline of downtown, and the strange red and blue circular lights passing overhead.

I smudge Christy’s window as I watch the lights pass overhead. The lights are too close to the ground to be a commercial plane but too large to be a drone. It must be something else, something unregistered and important at the same time.

My heart skips a beat as the craft makes a sharp turn, the large A practically glowing on the side of the ship.

_ The Avengers are here _ .

This could be my chance, my chance to get the perfect photo, the one I’ve always been searching for. I could finally get the photo I need for the scholarship I’m applying too, the only chance I have of getting into photography school.

_ I need that picture _ .

I’m not completely sure how I manage to stay so quiet as I throw on a pair of black clothes and get myself ready as quickly as possible.  _ Ha _ , I think to myself as I pick up my camera bag.  _ A Yearbook worthy event can spontaneously occur at one in the morning. _

Within minutes, I’m tightening the straps around my backpack camera bag. I set my quickly scribbled note on Christy’s side table, setting her phone on top of it to make sure she sees it.

_ Have something to take care of. Be back before 5. -Lay _

I take a long look at her, a pit of guilt forming in my stomach. I feel bad for ditching our slumber party, but this is something that is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And unless she wakes up at two in the morning, which I doubt she will with how hard she’s sleeping, then she won’t even notice I’m gone.

I take a step back, pressing start on the timer on my watch. I have two and a half hours until I need to be back. Plenty of time to get the photos I need and make it back without Christy having a clue.

I only have to find them.

Years of running and beginners parkour pays off. I jump over porches and over small front-yard gardens. I leap off a brick wall, swinging off a low streetlight, barely avoiding the sinkhole in the sidewalk.

For a group of superheroes who are complex and secretive, they’re pretty easy to find. And I’m not even using a GPS. Following in the same direction I saw the ship fly in, I find myself standing on the street corner opposite of the old New York Library. Camera in hand I zoom in, barely catching the reflection of Captain America’s shield as he, Iron Man, and Thor ascend the stone stairs and enter the wooden doors.

I check my watch. 

_ Two-thirty. An hour and forty-five minutes. We can make this work. _

My attention is drawn to movement on the roof. A man with a bow stands on the edge, watching the streets below. From my spot in the shadows, I zoom in all the way, catching a photo of the archer.

In a flash he’s gone, stepping back from the edge and running out of sight. I don’t even realize I’m moving until I reach the door of the library, swinging them open as quietly as possible, and keeping them from slamming behind me.

_ What the hell are you doing, Layla? Hanging upside down on both the Brooklyn Bridge and the 11 pm subway is one thing, but this? Walking into an abandoned library with who-knows-what and no one knowing your location is insane _ .

Yet my feet keep walking. I descend the stairs, the room air turning cold around me. I snake my way through the halls, approaching an open door of a semi-large room. Loud voices echo in the hall outside, causing a smile to instantly spread across my face as I recognize one of them as Captain America.

In awe, I watch as the Avengers confront an evil green villain with a golden-horned helmet. He stands in front of a wooden table, where a strange-looking stone with a weird letter rests on a stand.

Holding my camera tightly in my hand, I silence the shutter of my camera to make sure I’m neither seen nor heard. A change in conversation grabs my attention. I look up, still adjusting the camera settings. The villain turns and starts to walk away. The Avengers, who don’t look convinced, stand at attention, ready for a fight.

_ Ooh, that's a great shot _ .

I lift my camera to get a picture when the green villain spins around, a blast of green energy flying through the air. It spreads in every direction, including my spot in the doorway.

I turn quickly, the wall shielding me as I shield my camera. When the blast of green passes, my camera is back in action, the shutter clicking faster than it ever has. I catch pictures of the green villain reaching for the stone, Iron Man standing up, him in mid-air as his repulsors shoot in slow motion through the air.

I watch everything happen through the small view screen. The villain disappears, Iron Man’s repulsors hitting the small stone on the wooden table, blue filling the little letter symbol on the face.

There’s no time for me to react. The room erupts in blinding blue light, filling every nook and crevice. The blast sends me flying back into the wall, my head slamming against the stone. Instead of falling to the ground, I hover in the air, pressed against the wall.

Something crawls all over my skin, but I’m too paralyzed to see what it is. My entire vision begins to turn black as the feeling moves deeper into my skin. The wall behind me disappears, the invisible force letting me go.

And I fall into oblivion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you all think. I would really appreciate some feedback. It could be on anything: Grammar, characters, future plot ideas, anything. Thanks for reading this far! ;)


	3. Steve

My eyes open, adjusting to the light in my room. The sunlight pours through the bright windows, the shadow of the neighboring building casting across the walls. The noise of everyday traffic and peoples’ lives can still be faintly heard, just like every other day.

I put my hands over my face, closing out the light. I scrunch my face to keep out as much light as possible, a roaring headache making my eyes sensitive to the light.

Normally I would wake up and instantly jump out of bed, my internal time clock waking me up at sunrise. But today, for some reason, I slept in. For the first time in forever, I slept in until 10, if my old fashion alarm clock hasn’t died out yet.

Aching to get out of bed, my body slumps into some actual clothes and downstairs to the kitchen. I’m sore as all heck, but I can’t figure out why. Must have had one hell of a fight last night.

I walk through the doors to find a few of the team up as well, sitting in the living room.

“Morning,” I mumble as I walk into the kitchen. I turn on the coffee maker, the room instantly smelling like the roasting beans.

“Morning Cap…” answers Banner, looking at me curiously. “You’re up… late.”

“Wait, Captain America woke up late?” Asks Clint in a sarcastic tone from his spot on the arm of the couch, one foot up on the cushions. “That has to be a first.”

“I know,” I say, looking at the black stream coming out of the coffee maker. “And I’m not necessarily happy about it.”

“Does anyone remember what happened last night?” Asks Nat.

“I remember leaving to go… somewhere…” says Banner, thinking hard. “But that’s all I can recall. Not when, or where, or why.”

The sound of the doors opening catches everyone’s attention. I look up from behind the rim of my coffee cup to see Stark come around the corner, holding his head.

“Wow, I have just about the worst hangover ever,” announces Stark, walking over to the counter next to me and pouring himself a cup. “How much did I drink last night?”

“I don’t think that was a drink, Tony,” answers Nat. “Is there anything in that Photographic memory of yours that could help us figure out what happened last night?”

“Not at the current moment, but I’ll let you know when the cloudiness of my headache disappears after my refresh.” Stark sits down in the chair, holding his coffee in one hand as he holds his other over his face.

“How about you Steve?” Asks Nat. “You don’t look too great yourself either.”

I give a small chuckle as I walk over from the counter, sitting down in the chair perpendicular to Tony. “I have a wicked headache too.” I rub the bridge of my nose before transitioning into moving my hand through my hair as if doing so will take some of the pain away. “I feel like hundreds of bits of information are running through my brain all at one time.”

“Welcome to my life,” mumbles Stark, who has now reclined all the way back.

“Well, I for one… feel totally fine,” interjects Clint from his spot sitting on the coffee table.

“Congratulations,” answers Nat in a slightly snarky tone. “You’re the only one here who does.”

“Um… last I checked, Thor isn’t in this room and Banner hasn’t shared, so…”

“Yea, I feel perfectly fine,” says Banner from his own chair. “In fact, I’ve never felt better.”

A loud bang runs through the room, followed by heavy footsteps. All of us look up, seeing one angry Asgardian stomp into the kitchen and practically rip the door off the refrigerator.

“What’s got you in a ‘tude?” Asks Clint.

Thor simply glares at Clint before returning to his search through the fridge.

“Woah, sorry to spit in your Fruit Loops.”

Slamming the door and knocking off a few magnets, Thor stomps over to where we’re all sitting. The God of Thunder towers over Clint, his anger adding a few feet to his height. He grabs Clint’s shirt and holds him tightly. I stand up, ready to intervene. Clint’s breathing heavens while he deals with his internal struggle of trying to not to show his obvious fear.

“Have care… how you speak… to an Asgardian,” demands Thor in a low growl. Clint nods his head slowly, his eyes locked on to Thor’s bright blue.

Natasha stands, grabbing Thor’s arm and turning him to face her. Thor drops Clint, who squeaks past Thor’s broad shoulders and coming to stand by me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She demands in a tone I have yet to hear from her. “You think you can just walk in here and command the whole place just because you’re in a foul mood?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Thor mumbles in reply.

“Oh REALLY.” Nat crosses her arms, looking Thor dead in the eyes. “Then why don’t you explain so the rest of us can start to understand, your HIGHNESS.”

All of us wait for Thor’s response. Clint and I stand in a direct path to step in between the two in case of an intervention, while Banner, who had gotten to his feet during Nat’s rant, stands right behind Thor, both him and the Hulk ready if needed. Stark continues to watch with interest from his chair, but I think I can see him talking to JARVIS under his breath.

Thor and Natasha stare angrily at each other, every passing second adding intense energy to the room. As Thor seems to grow in size similar to when he confronted Clint, Nat stands her ground, waiting for him to even try and start something.

With one swift motion, Thor sticks out his hand. Bruce and I start to lunge forward to grab his hand… 

But nothing happens.

There’s no electricity spike from the tower’s tech. No ominous Thunder beginning to roar outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows. No sudden increase in energy in the room. Nothing.

Banner and I are the first ones to notice.

“Thor?” I ask, taking a step closer to look him in the eyes. “Where’s Mjolnir?”

His shoulders seem to fall a little bit as if I had given an answer instead of asking a question. He straightens up a little bit instead of towering over Nat. He turns and looks at all of us. Without a word he turns and walks towards the doors.

But I’m not done asking him questions yet.

“Thor,” I say, more like a command than a statement. “Where is Mjolnir?”

“That’s a great question isn’t it,” he answers, spinning around to look at me. “Don’t you think I would have answered the first time if I knew the answer to your ‘simple ended’ question?”

“That’s not…”

“You don't remember what happened but I do. You all were spelled by the  _ Austtond _ but I wasn’t. Asgardians have a slight immunity to some dark magic like the  _ Austtond _ , but not completely.”

“Thor, what are you saying?” Asked Banner, standing next to me.

“Last night, when Loki tried to steal the rune, it's magic exploded, taking all of our powers and switching them.”

“What?” Asks Nat.

“Are you serious?” Comments Clint behind me.

“We all switched powers?” I ask, unable to understand what all Thor said.

“Yes. Everyone here doesn’t have their powers anymore. Someone else does. And the only way to change it back is to find Loki and make him set things right.”

“Okay, but don’t you think there are more important things we need to figure out first?” Asks Nat. “Like figuring where Loki is or  _ who has what powers _ ?”

“Yes, but this is something that should be dealt with on a higher scale, which is why I’m going to Asgard to find some assistance from Heimdal.”

“Thor wait,” I say, but it's too late. Thor turns and walks out of the room, his red cape billowing out behind him. All of us stare at the door, more in exasperation than desperation.

“Alright,” Clint says, breaking the silence. “Who took Thor’s hammer.”

We turn around, looking at him.  _ Really _ I mouth.

“What? I was just trying to break the mood, especially after Mr. Sunshine.”

“So do you all really think that what Thor said is true? That all of our powers are switched around?” Asks Nat.

“Yes, I think it's very plausible,” answers Banner, sitting back down in his chair. “None of us can recall what exactly happened last night, but I do remember the conversation of what the Rune could do if accidentally activated.”

“So I think our first step should be trying to figure out who has what powers,” I say. “Once we do we can start to understand what we need to do and start making progress towards finding Loki.”

“While you all are doing that,” interjects Stark, standing up from his recliner. “I’m going to go finish my coffee in a place where I can actually think.”

“Come on Tony, we need to figure this out.”

“Nope, don’t need to Cap. A man needs his coffee before he can solve the world's problems.” Tony walks towards the door. “And he needs to Tinker. JARVIS, bring up the Mark 16 prototype so I can finish it, would you?”

“Don’t you mean the Mark 41 sir?”

Tony stops cold like he’s seen a ghost. He slowly turns around, shooting a quick look at me before looking up at the ceiling. 

“Yea, that one.”

He looks at all of us, putting on his sarcastic face. “Guess you can have too many suits.”

And with that he was gone, the door closing behind him.

I continue to stare at the place Stark just was. For a second I saw something I’d never seen on Stark’s face:  _ confusion _ . Not normal confusion, like his  _ I can’t figure out how this quantum part thing goes together _ confusion. Something different. 

Like  _ forgetting things _ confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the chapter I originally wrote first, so Thor is more like the one from Avengers/Ragnarok instead of the TV show. But please let me know what you think anyways!


	4. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I haven't posted on this story in a while. It seemed the more my life has come into control the less time I've had to write, but I promise I haven't forgotten about this story. Please leave comments and let me know what you think, especially if you have ideas for future chapters. Thanks!

I take in a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill my aching lungs. My muscles ached to be outside since I missed his morning run by sleeping so late, even though they’re still sore from the fight last night.

The conversation still echoes in my mind. Tony refused to come up from his lab, saying he was taking a “sick day”, and Thor was nowhere to be found, already in Asgard by the looks of things. That left the rest of us to figure out what was going on. I could barely focus to save my life, my head pounding from all the information it was trying to process. It still feels like a thousand bits of data were bouncing off my skull and pinging like electrons.

_ Electrons? Weird. _

I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get out of there, no matter how hard Nat drilled me for leaving when they needed me most. I had to get out of there, or I was going to drown in my own mind.

I open the doors to the police station, seeing the usual shuffle and buffle of life. People coming to make reports, officers leaving on calls, papers flying and fingers soaring. I smile at the receptionist, who blushes and hides her face behind some of the papers she was holding. I took a step towards the door when an upset voice ran through the room.

“How many times do I have to say this. She’s  _ missing _ !”

I stop for a minute, looking around for the source of the panicked tone. I see a girl about sixteen standing at a police officer’s desk. She’s gripping a small piece of paper, crinkling it with every passing, anxious second.

“My friend Layla,” says the girl. “She was at my house last night, but when I woke up, she was gone.”

“Did she leave a note on where she went?”

“Yes, but all it said was she needed to take care of something. Not what, or where, or anything!”

“Excuse me?” I interject, catching the attention of both. The police officer stands up a little straighter, recognizing me as the Star-Spangled Man himself. “I couldn’t help but overhear that your friend went missing last night? Do you know when?”

“Sometime between midnight and five in the morning.”

Something twisted in his gut. That was the time frame when we were dealing with Loki and the  _ Austtond _ .

“And you said she left a note?”

The girl holds out the note, showing the scribbled cursive on its front.  _ Have something to take care of. Be back before 5. -Lay. _ Weird. No description, no explanation, no location.

Again… Weird.

“Do you have any idea what this is about, sir?” Asks the police officer.

“Maybe.” I turn back to the girl. “Do you have any idea why your friend left the house? Is there anything she was talking or doing before you found this note?”

“She was packing her camera in case something happened. She’s the photography editor for the yearbook and is always ready for anything, even an alien invasion at one in the morning. We joke about that all the time, but she’s never actually done that before. Also, she’s incredibly reckless, putting herself into situations to get that ‘perfect photo’.”

The knot in my stomach lurches and gets tighter. This is way too much of a coincidence. We have a fight against Loki the same night, same  _ time _ , this teenage girl goes missing, a teenage girl who has no powers?

“Do you have a way to find her?” Asks the girl, looking at me curiously and desperately.

“Does he?” Says the police officer before I could say anything. “He’s Steve Rogers!  _ Captain America _ for Christ’s sake! Of course, he has a way to find her!”

The girl’s eyes grew wide, realization hitting her straight on.

“You’re Captain America? The  _ AVENGERS _ are getting involved with this? This must be bigger than I thought! Holy!…”

I smile at her, watching her as she starts to have a small exciting-panic attack in front of my eyes. While it seems simple enough to help her find her friend, I have the feeling this is going to be bigger than we think.

_ Sorry team. Things are about to get a whole lot more complicated _ .

*****

“Alright,” I say, typing my password into the main computer in the lab. “Let’s run through the facts again.”

“She was at my house for a sleepover,” says the girl. I found out her name was Chrisy on the walk back to the tower after our conversation at the police station. “We went to sleep about midnight and when I woke up at five this morning she was gone. She left a note saying she would be back before we had to leave, so she went out sometime between midnight and five.”

“Does she have any unknown powers or mutations that we should know about?”

“Other than complete stupidity and a severe case of reckless spontaneity, no. At least none that I’m aware of.”

“Alright, so she doesn’t have powers, so that would explain Thor’s loss of powers. We still need to figure out who’s powers she has if she is the person who was involved with this…”

I type quickly into the computer, making sure to get every detail while fighting the anxious pit growing in my stomach. I hit enter, JARVIS taking the information and turning it into a search algorithm. 

Christy and I watch as the small search progress bar slowly loads on the projector screen. Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see her anxious fidgeting with her wrists and shifting anxiously from one foot to the other.

“Hey,” I say, putting my hand lightly on her arm. “We’ll find her, don’t worry.”

She opens her mouth to answer when a noise interrupts behind us.

Bruce walks through the door, walking up to us with a confused expression and pointing behind him. “Um, I don’t mean to interrupt but… Is there supposed to be an unconscious person in our training room?”

“What?”

Christy is instantly in front of Banner, practically begging on her knees as she holds his hand. “What does the person look like?”

“Ah, well.  _ SHE’S _ wearing dark blue jeans and a long-sleeve black shirt? Had dirty blond hair in a small ponytail?”

“Oh my god, that’s her!”

Christy sprints out of the room, me close behind her. I pass her when she realizes she has no idea where she’s going, running down a flight of stairs and almost running into Barton. I round the tight corner, bursting through the glass doors.

Sure enough, a girl rests unconscious in the middle of the training room floor. Her back is to us, but I can see her chest and shoulders slightly moving up and down. A blur rushes past me, kneeling next to the girl and rolling her over.

The girl’s eyes are closed and unresponsive. A small purple bruise is in the middle of forming on her cheek and a small cut jars her lower lip, but other than that there are no external injuries. It simply looked like she had fallen asleep and happened to appear in their training room.

But as I lift her off the ground and carry her to the med-bay, the anxious pit still rests within me. Something doesn’t seem right about this.

Something is definitely off.


	5. Layla

I feel like I’m floating, as though I’m suspended between space and time. I try to open my eyes, but everything is dark, both inside and out.  _ What is happening? _

My stomach drops instantly. I’m going down the first dip on a roller coaster. I’m falling but from where? Where am I falling to? And I never hit the ground, continuing to fall for miles.

Right before I hit what I believe to be the bottom of this never-ending chasm, a shock of energy runs through me, hitting every nerve in my body.

I wake with a jolt, looking around at my strange surroundings. I’m in a silver room reflecting bright light everywhere. The two walls to my left and behind me are covered in floor to ceiling windows, overlooking downtown New York.

Slowly pushing the perfectly white sheets off of me, I stand up, swaying slightly at the small wave of light-headedness from laying down for so long. When the wave passes, I move to one of the window panes, looking out over the breath-taking view.

“Wow,” I whisper to myself.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

I spin around in a flash, hands raised in defense at the surprise figure standing against the far wall. He wore a white T-Shirt and dark jeans, a dark brown jacket resting on a chair next to him. He was standing, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his muscular chest. I recognized him instantly.

“Layla, is it?”

“You know my name?”

“Of course,” Captain America answers, coming over to stand in front of me. “I don’t know how I would have missed it with how many times your friend mentioned it.”

My eyes widen. “Christy? Is she alright? Is she here?”

“Yes. Your friend is here. She hasn’t left since we found you.”

“Since you found me? When did you…”

My question is stopped short as the door opens in a blur, a girl in an old blue dress with bright blond hair standing in the doorway. Her bright blue eyes look at me with joy, though I can see the circles of exhaustion resting under her eyes.

“You’re awake!” Christy says, running over to me. She throws her arms around me, giving me the biggest hug in the world. And I give her a large hug in return; not exactly because I missed her, but more along the lines of being glad to have something  _ real _ to hold onto. When we pull apart she slaps me on the arm, which I recoil from playfully.

“Don’t you  _ ever _ \- or so help me -  _ EVER _ go on a spontaneous photo shoot ever again! I don’t care if it’s for a yearbook or not. I can’t go through this again.”

Slight movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention, the tall blond Avenger chuckling while trying to hide his smile behind his hand. I intend to make a sarcastic comment, but the door Christy came in moments earlier swings open. If it weren’t for my pride, my jaw would have hit the floor.

Literally  _ all _ of the Avengers begin entering the medical room, even Doctor Banner; and thankfully not dressed as an enormous green rage monster. As Thor - the last one to pass through the door - enters the room, my mind is filled to absolute capacity. How is this possible? How could I be the luckiest person in the world? To meet all her idols - her  _ heroes _ \- at the same time? All because of a little disappearance for a few hours.

_ Jesus Christ what did I get into? _

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Iron Man -  _ Tony Stark _ \- says sarcastically.

“Wow,” I stammer. “Just wow.”

“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” continues Ms. Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff. “You gave us quite a scare.”

“Especially just appearing in our training room,” Doctor Banner states.

My brain can’t even begin to comprehend what he just said.

“This is amazing. Really. Getting to see all of you. This is a dream-come-true, even if it is under these circumstances.” I motion to the room around me. “Thank you so much for finding me, and taking care of me for that matter. You honestly didn’t have to do that. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“You weren’t a bother to us at all,” Steve Rogers answers, promptly followed by Hawkeye snorting from the other side of the line of heroes. “We’re honored to help as many people as we can.”

“Well, as much as a dream this has been,” I say, motioning to the room around me with the hand not latched onto my friend’s shoulder. “I think I’ve been away from life for much too long. We really should be getting back.”

“Actually we need your help with something,” Stark interrupted.

“Okay,” my confused voice responds, looking at them. “The Avengers need my help?”

“We think you may have been involved with a recent…” Stark paused, looking at Steve for a brief moment, an expression on his face that I can’t quite read. “ _ Event _ involving us and a powerful villain.”

“Oh, that.” I take my arm off of Christy, holding my hands together in front of me. “I’m so sorry. I was just there to get some pictures for Yearbook and I honestly didn’t know that I was in your way. It was not my place to be there and I’m so, so sorry. I promise I won’t do that again…”

“No, you weren’t in the way. In fact, we didn’t even realize you were there.”

“Layla, do you remember what happened?” Asked Steve

I try to rack my brain but there’s just a lot of black and emptiness.

“We were dealing with an ancient rune when it accidentally went off,” answered Steve when he saw my expression. “In doing so, all of our powers got switched, only we didn’t find out until this morning.”

“We think that you may have one of our powers,” continued Natasha, getting right to the point.

I look at the floor, rollercoasters of thoughts streaking through my mind. I don’t remember anything of that night other than the void, falling with no end. Then again, how do you explain waking up in Avengers tower instead of a hospital compared to every other unconscious person?

“Listen, I’m sorry, but this is a complete misunderstanding,” I say, stepping back. “I wasn’t in any way involved with your situation. I was simply observing from a semi-far distance.”

“You don’t even think that there could be a chance?” Dr. Banner asks.

I try to respond, but my mind stops me, my mouth open partially.

“Exactly,” Stark answers for me.

“Layla,” Christy says next to me, touching my arm. “Don’t you think it’s at least worth a look? Even if it’s just to prove them wrong?”

I look at her, seeing the worry behind her carrying eyes. I sigh, turning to once again be facing the Avengers. I give them a simple nod. “Alright. I’ll help you.”

The reactions of the Avengers give me a reason to smile, squeezing Christy’s hand as they start bombarding each other with ideas and plans for different kinds of tests. At least it’s hiding my internal dialogue.

The one telling me this might have been a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Wow, it's been so long since I've posted to this story. And yet, the hits keep going up. You all are amazing and fantastic and I couldn't ask for better readers.
> 
> In honor of my one-year anniversary on AO3, I am going to be posting a new chapter to one of my stories every day. So if you like my content and have any of my other stories saved, keep an eye out for new postings on your favorite stories. I get inspiration from where ever and whenever, so I have no idea what stories I'll be posting to every day, but I hope to get to all of them at least once during the next 30 days.
> 
> I love you guys so much. You all are awesome. If you have any questions or have any feedback to give, feel free to. And for the love of all things good in this world... thanks for reading and keep on smiling. :D


	6. Layla

For what seems like the hundredth time today, my back hits the hard training room floor, only this time I’m able to keep my head from slamming into the concrete as well. My lungs weren’t as lucky as my skull though, all the air in them once again being exhaled out forcefully. Everything hurts. Everything is in pain. I don’t think there is a bone or muscle in my body that isn’t aching in one way or another.

Above me stands a figure in all black, crossing her arms as she glares down at me. I don’t need to look straight into her eyes to tell that she’s pissed. The roundhouse kick she just gave me made it quite clear.

It also made it clear that I am D-O-N-E _ DONE _ .

“I can’t take this anymore! There’s no way I can do this!”

“Yes you can,” Black Widow - Natasha Romanoff - replies. “You just have to try harder.”

“No, I don’t,” I grit at her.

“ _ Yes you do _ ,” she hisses at me. In an instant, I am lifted off the ground by the woman avenger, being held up by my neck in a forceful grip.

“Natasha!” A voice shouts, and I am dropped instantly, staggering in attempts to regain my breath and my balance. Natasha steps away from me, looking at Steve who was being closely followed by Tony and Bruce.

“Listen,” Steve says in his usual calming voice. “Nat I understand you’re frustrated, and you have every right to be. But what you don’t have is the right to take it out on anyone, especially not Layla.”

Natasha, who is suddenly red - though I can’t tell from anger or embarrassment - turns to face me, speaking quietly. “Sorry.”

“It’s… “  _ Definitely not alright _ . “... fine.”

Natasha then leaves the room, barely making a sound. Steve instantly comes over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”

“Um, let me think. Ah… no. No, I’m definitely not okay.”

Steve sighs. “Listen. I’m sorry about Natasha.”

“With all due respect, Captain, I am definitely not talking about Widow.”

I can see it in the way his face falls that he knows exactly what I am referring to. It has been two days since I first woke up in the Avenger’s medical room (which they do in fact call it just the “med bay”). In that 48 hours' worth of time, I have been stretched, pushed, and punched too many times to count.

And all of them have come up with nothing more than I already knew before.

“Alright,” Steve answers. “I understand. We’ll stop for the day and give you time to recuperate. When you feel as though you’re ready, we’ll pick it up where we left off.”

I nod my head in acknowledgment, not sure if I should say anything.

“Steve,” Bruce says quietly. “I totally agree with taking a break for the rest of the day, but we have to figure this out as soon as we can.”

“Yea, we do still have an Asgardian villain with an enchanted rock to find,” Tony continues. “We can’t just quit cold-turkey at this exact moment.”

“Yes stakes are high, but we can’t keep going with how things have been going,” replies Steve. “We have been at this for two days and have come up with nothing. Not only do we need to figure out a plan B, but we have to give Layla some time for herself. We did just throw her into this out of the blue.”

“Well, what else do you suggest we do?” Tony asks. “Have her take a ‘which Avenger are you?’ quiz?”

“Sarcasm is not helping right now Tony.”

“Might not be helping you, but it's the only thing that I still have confidence in at the current moment…”

I looked at the debating crewmates, suddenly tuning in to what they’re saying rather than just listening to them talk.

“Tony, we’re trying to figure this out. We know you lost something just like the rest of us, but we still haven’t figured out what that is yet…”

“I might have an idea,” I say, gaining the attention of the augmenting Avengers. “You all have worked with each other for a while now, so I think it’s safe to say that you all know what each other can do fairly well?”

“Yea…” Tony begins.

“So why don’t we try testing you all first? You all figure out which of each other’s powers you all have and we can use the process of elimination to figure out which power is missing. Then we can test me with that one power rather than testing all of them at the same time.”

The others look in different stages of emotions- Tony contemplating whether my theory is plausible or not; Bruce surprised that I came up with a plan they hadn’t thought of yet, and Steve impressed at me suggesting a solid “Avenger’s Level” idea.

“We could make that work,” Tony answers.

“It would make sense,” Bruce continues. “We’d be starting with variables and resources we already have.”

“Just like a normal experiment.”

“Why didn’t we think of that?”

“No idea.”

“So you two think we should try it?” Steve asks.

“It’s the only other option we have right?” Tony states. “And I don’t think the others would turn it down either. So why not give it a shot?”

“I’m okay with it,” the scientist replies.

“Same with me,” says the Captain.

“Dido,” the Genius finishes.

“I just have one catch to add to that idea,” I reply, finally pitching into the conversation.

The trio looks back at me once more, and I cross my arms, looking at them with my eyebrows raised.

“I get to be the one in charge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello awesome people! So it's obvious at this point that I completely failed with my "posting something every day" challenge. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you don't really need to worry about it ;)
> 
> Sorry it took so long to post this new chapter, but now that things have started to get into more of a rhythm, I promise to start posting chapters more often, so keep your eyes out for updates!
> 
> As normal, please feel free to leave comments, questions, or suggestions and I will definitely look at them.
> 
> Thanks for reading, you "cool beans" people, and don't forget to keep on smiling. :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is officially my third story in progress, so I hope that it will be somewhat interesting to at least a few. I came up with the idea spontaneously and would love to get your feedback on it!


End file.
